With Acute Uneasiness!!
The election of Donald Trump as the next President of the United States has shocked the entire world, and that especially includes the island of Cuba. Trump is a Republican and he will have a Republican Congress to support many of his policies -- including Trump's vow, at least when he was campaigning in Miami's Little Havana neighborhood, that he would "reverse" all of President Obama's historic overtures to Cuba and even put Cuba back on the debilitating Sponsors of Terrorism list. President Obama's many positives related to Cuba bypassed the Republican Congress and were simply executed via brave, astute and decent Executive Actions. The easiest thing for an incoming President, such as Mr. Trump, to do is to devise Executive Actions that would erase those of his predecessor. In regards to Cuba, that is what President Trump might do in keeping the promises he self-servingly made in Miami's Little Havana.
Within minutes after the early Wednesday confirmation that Trump would be the next U. S. President, Cuba was writing an announcement in its state newspaper, Granma, that it was going on alert with military exercises across the island. Considering the meager strength of the Cuban military compared to superpower America's, many scoff at the announcement but not those who remember Cuba's do-or-die and victorious Revolutionary War in the 1950s or its do-or-die defense at the Bay of Pigs in 1961 or its pugnacious survival even against the U. S. embargo first imposed in 1962 and still existing to this day.
The best and fairest international journalist reporting on Cuba is Sarah Marsh of London-based Reuters. Her article after the Trump victory revealed that everyday Cubans support the government taking a military tone in reaction to the impending Trump presidency. A 39-year-old Cuban engineer, Tomas Gonzalez, told Sarah Marsh: "We'll brace to what is coming. With Trump, I reckon we are headed back to the era of George Bush." Since 1952 everyday Cubans are well aware that every Republican administration in the U. S., especially the three Bush presidential terms and the Bush dynasty's anti-Cuban assaults dating all the way back to George H. W. Bush in the 1950s have forced Cuba into a "defensive posture." Sarah Marsh reveals that with the Republican Trump replacing Mr. Obama, Cuba is returning to a warlike footing.
In an earlier recent Reuters article Sarah Marsh used the above photo to report that everyday Cubans, shown installing a Fidel Castro montage on his 90th birthday, will always support the Castro legacy because of his revolutionary fervor on behalf of a sovereign Cuba. Meanwhile, the U. S. media is obligated to inform the American people that all Cubans on the island hate Castro and agree with the Republicans, the CIA and the Cuban-exiles in Miami's Little Havana who have vowed to overthrow the revolution and tried a record number of times to assassinate Castro. While there are a small number of anti-Fidel dissidents on the island, and a larger number of U.S.-backed dissidents, the majority of Cubans support the revolution and very much fear a Republican President, like Donald Trump, in the United States.
This is the Cuban embassy in Washington, newly opened for the first time since 1961 thanks to President Obama's Executive Orders, with the corresponding U. S. embassy in Havana reopening shortly after the historic ceremony in Washington made this building a busy embassy. Beyond officially establishing diplomatic relations, President Obama has greatly eased trade restrictions related to Cuba as well as making it easier for more Americans to actually visit the island, including U. S. traffic on the first cruise ships and commercial airplane flights allowed to dock or land in Cuba for the first time since 1962.
A few days ago -- on Oct. 26-2016 -- Samantha Power, the U. S. Representative to the UN, made this speech explaining why, for the first time, the U. S. refused to support its own Congressionally mandated Cuban embargo, in effect since 1962. Ms. Power used one sentence to say that the U. S. "still had differences" with Cuba but she used many sentences to applaud Cuba, citing such examples as Cuba's emphasis on free and good educational and health opportunities for its people; Cuba's empowerment of women; Cuba's world-class low infant mortality rate; and Cuba's eagerness and willingness to rush to the aid of people threatened with disasters such as the Ebola crisis in Africa or natural calamities in Haiti. If interested, you can go online and study the entire transcript or video of Samantha Power's UN speech on Oct. 26th. When the U. S. refused to support its own embargo against Cuba, the international vote announced to the world was 191-to-0 against the embargo, the glaring worldwide unanimity that the U. S. Congress and a few hardliners in Miami's Little Havana insist that the U. S. democracy totally dismiss.
As a billionaire businessman Donald Trump opposed the embargo and other odious aspects of America's right-wing Cuban policy. But while seeking Florida's often pivotal 29 electoral votes, Trump went to Little Havana in Miami and promised to "reverse" President Obama's overtures to Cuba and to "return" Cuba to the debilitating Sponsors of Terrorism list. After his cowardly, condescending promises in Little Havana, the above photo showed some powerful pro-Trump supporters demonstrating on Little Havana's famed 8th Street, Calle Ocho. All that is interesting because the majority of Cuban-Americans even in Miami support Obama's efforts to normalize relations with the island. It is also interesting to note that Miami since 1989 only sends incumbents like Ros-Lehtinen, Diaz-Balart, Rubio, and Curbelo -- all anti-Castro zealots -- to the U.S. Congress -- apparently confirming that the majority of Cuban-Americans who happen to be moderates with concern for Cubans on the island and the 191-to-0 UN vote are not eligible or represented.
In March President Obama visited Cuba.
On his historic trip to Cuba, as shown by this photo and quotation, President Obama went on national television in Cuba and told the Cuban people: "Cuba does not need to fear a threat from the United States." UNFORTUNATELY, what the decent President Obama meant was that Cuba does not need to fear a threat from the United States UNLESS there is a Republican Commander-in-Chief and also a Republican-dominated Congress. AND UNFORTUNATELY, BEGINNING ON JANUARY 20-2017 THE UNITED STATES ONCE AGAIN WILL HAVE BOTH A REPUBLICAN COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF AND A REPUBLICAN-DOMINATED CONGRESS.
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Therefore, within minutes of Wednesday morning's confirmation that Republican Donald Trump had been elected the next President of the United States, Cuba's state newspaper was preparing an announcement telling its people that the Cuban military was being put on alert and military exercises would commence.
Meanwhile, everyday Cubans cherish President Obama's efforts to normalize Cuban relations on friendly terms that would benefit Americans, Cubans, and the world. The above photo was taken by Ramon Espinosa for the Associated Press on Wednesday, Oct. 9th-2016, the morning Cubans learned Donald Trump had been elected President of the United States. The photo shows Cuban actor Armando Ricart fixing breakfast in his Havana home. Note the huge Cuban flag on the left and the equally huge American flag on the right. They reveal Armando's hope for friendly U. S. relations. With President Obama about to be replaced by a Republican Commander-in-Chief, Armando's hopes are not as realistic as they were prior to Wednesday.
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